1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a center bearing support which rotatably and elastically supports a propeller shaft of a motor vehicle to a vehicle body side via a center bearing and carries out a vibration absorption and a buffering.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
A center bearing support is structured such as to elastically support a center bearing which is installed to an outer periphery of a propeller shaft of a motor vehicle to a vehicle body side, and reduce a vibration transmission between the propeller shaft side and the vehicle body side under traveling.
As shown in FIG. 3, a center bearing support 100 of this kind has been conventionally provided with an outer ring 101, an inner ring 102 which is arranged in an inner periphery thereof and fitted to each other, and an elastic body 103 which is made of a rubber-like elastic material (a rubber material or a synthetic resin material having a rubber-like elasticity), elastically couples the outer ring 101 and the inner ring 102 and is formed as a bellow-like bent shape. The outer ring 101 is fitted and attached to a bracket which is attached to the vehicle body side and is not illustrated in the figure, and the inner ring 102 is fitted and attached to an outer race 201 of a center bearing 200 which is installed to an outer peripheral surface of an axial intermediate portion in the propeller shaft which is not illustrated in the figure.
The elastic body 103 is formed as a bent shape in such a manner that a cross sectional shape obtained by cutting off by a plane passing through an axis is convex to one side in an axial direction, whereby a degree of freedom for deformation is set to be large.
In other words, the center bearing support 100 is structured such as to elastically and rotatably support the propeller shaft to the vehicle body side via the center bearing 200, and in the case that any vibration is generated in the propeller shaft, the elastic body 103 repeatedly bends and stretches in conjunction with a relative eccentric motion between the inner ring 102 in the propeller shaft side and the outer ring 101 in the vehicle body side, whereby it is possible to effectively insulate the vibration transmission to the vehicle body side (refer, for example, to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-280342).